It’s only January, but we have yet another sign that 2026 could shape up as a good year for private equity: Admaius Capital Partners is exiting its stake in cosmeceutical manufacturer Parkville Pharmaceuticals after just two years, selling to Africa-focused private equity firm Adenia Partners in a transaction that underscores a broader revival in Egypt’s private equity and M&A markets.

The transaction: Admaius, along with Parkville founders Sherif Bassiouny and Mahmoud Farrag, inked agreements to sell a majority stake to Adenia, the two PE outfits said in statements (here and here, both pdf). The two firms declined yesterday to talk with us about financials, but Admaius Managing Partner Marlon Chigwende noted that “the USD returns to our investors are very attractive.”

Why we’re cheering the transaction: These are two no-BS investors in Egypt — and a two-year exit with positive USD returns is rare in emerging markets PE, where funds typically hold assets for five to seven years and often struggle to find buyers willing to cough up the asking price.

What’s Parkville? Founded in 2008, the Cairo-based company makes and distributes lines of skincare, haircare, wellness, and therapeutic pharma products. Its brands — including StarVille, StrongVille, Bobai, Glamy Lab, and Seropipe — have made it a leading player in the nation’s fast-growing cosmeceutical segment.

Exports are a growing part of Parkville’s sales mix. The company has a plant in Alexandria and now sells into Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, and Iraq. Its products are also now available on Noon and Amazon in Saudi, according to its website.

What Admaius did: The pan-African PE firm invested in November 2023. “Together with the management team, we focused on strengthening operations, governance, and scalability while navigating a challenging macroeconomic environment,” Managing Director Ahmed Rady said in the statement.

The transaction is a big one for Adenia: The transaction is the firm’s first investment here and its largest to date. It entered Egypt in late 2024 when it tapped veteran investment professional Heba Hakky to head its Egypt office. Adenia has raised over USD 1 bn across five funds and co-investments since its founding in 2002, with 35 investments and 21 exits to its name. Its latest vehicle, Fund V, closed at USD 540 mn.

SOUND SMART- Adenia is also raising a smaller-ticket fund focused on entrepreneurs — the EU-Africa Adenia Entrepreneurial Growth Fund — which landed a EUR 32.5 mn commitment from the European Investment Bank last October.

What they said: “This investment reflects our conviction in Egypt’s long-term fundamentals and in the strength of locally built champions,” Hakky said in the statement. “We look forward to working closely with Parkville’s founders and management team in the next phase of its growth.” Adenia plans to support Parkville’s product portfolio enhancement, digital and e-commerce acceleration, and regional market expansion.

PE (and M&A) are having a moment

The Parkville exit isn’t a one-off: There’s been a sustained pickup in private equity and M&A activity after spending the better part of 2023 and 2024 in the deep-freeze. Egypt saw 120 M&As in 2024, up 24% y-o-y, the highest growth rate in the Middle East, according to PwC. Dealmaking picked up in the first half of last year, with 86 transactions nearly doubling the 1H 2024 tally and putting Egypt second only to the UAE (95 transactions) in regional volume.

Why exits were hard: 2022-2024 was punishing for PE outfits with Egyptian assets. The FX crisis and subsequent devaluation saw a classic buyer-seller mismatch on pricing after it left PE firms underwater in USD terms — prompting risk-averse buyers to demand bargain-basement prices.

What’s changed? Buyers — both regional and international — are back in the market, and there’s fresh capital flowing into private equity firms. You all know the song by now: the Madbouly government’s economic team has stabilized the economy, and the central bank has stayed the course.

PE activity really picked up in the last 12 months: Morpho Investments closed investments in two agricultural firms after a USD 55 mn first close of its inaugural fund. London-based healthcare PE firm Alta Semper is raising a USD 150 mn fund focused primarily on Egypt and Morocco, having already taken a majority stake in Nature’s Rule this month. The EIB and IFC committed a combined USD 138 mn to RMBV and Alta Semper earlier in January, and AfricInvest exited MDP to Lorax last year.

Is Gourmet’s IPO a sign of the times?

Perhaps the clearest evidence that PE exits are back: B Investments is taking premium grocer and food manufacturer Gourmet Egypt public.

By the numbers: Gourmet is looking to raise up to EGP 1.3 bn by offering a 47.6% stake at an indicative price range of EGP 6.20-6.90 per share, giving the company a market cap of as much as EGP 2.8 bn. EFG Hermes Investment Banking will price the offering on Sunday, with trading slated to begin on or around 9 February. Institutional investors will get 80% of the 191 mn shares on offer through Thursday, while retail investors can place orders through 4 February.

Why it matters: A good IPO would prove the EGX is a real alternative to strategic sales for PE outfits facing pressure to return liquidity to their limited partners. B Investments has been patient with Gourmet, and a strong debut would suggest that well-managed portfolio companies can find liquidity domestically.

What’s next?

For the transaction: The usual caveats apply — it still needs clearance from regulators, including the Financial Regulatory Authority.

For Adenia: Egypt is now on the map. The firm, a control investor, is well-positioned to build out its portfolio here.

For Admaius: The firm took a minority stake in Triquera, the majority shareholder of drugmaker Minapharm, last July in a transaction that also brought in the EBRD. The firm is investing in Minapharm’s biotech capabilities and kicking the tires on international acquisitions. Admaius continues to raise capital for its Virunga Africa Fund I after an initial USD 280 mn first close. The firm currently has AUM of USD 320 mn.

For the market: 2025 was about fundraising momentum — capital was available, largely from development finance institutions, even if exits were rare. The Parkville sale and Gourmet IPO suggest the logjam may finally be breaking.

ADVISORS– Zilla Capital acted as the sole financial advisor to the selling shareholders. Matouk Bassiouny provided counsel to the sellers, while Baker McKenzie advised Adenia Partners.

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

Tags: